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2005 update Where’s the snow?

We’ve always said the best season to hunt elk is the one when it snows a foot. Not only didn’t it snow during any of the hunting seasons, it hasn’t snowed a foot even yet on the 28th of December. Thankfully we had all you experienced and dedicated hunters to make up of the lack of snow, and we ended up with a pretty good season anyway. As the seasons were later than usual (due to some strange formula that says the first season starts on the first Saturday after the second Wednesday of October, or something like that) we pulled the camp down during the third season and finished it with a few days of day hunting from the ranch. We got to hunt some new country, and saw lots of bull elk. However it was quite rugged and getting them out was tough.

During the three seasons with you clients, we filled 65%, however in the last season, with family members and neighbors, we were skunked. Zipola. Nada. In fact we saw elk only once in 5 days of elk hunting, in three different areas. We were saved from total embarrassment by harvesting one real nice deer. (and the deer hunter saw several elk while hunting deer on private property). That last season wasn’t over until November 20 th and it sure was getting cold.

Everyone was back to full health and going strong. And we have probably the best string of horses we’ve ever had. So we look forward to seeing some of you in ’06. Won’t that be the hundredth anniversary of the 30-06 or something? Sounds like as good a reason as any to go elk hunting.

Best wishes and good health,

Ed, Patti, Matt, Rick, Laquita, Dick, and Bobby

2004
Colorado was a red state for both "W" and for our elk hunting this year. How was 04 you ask, let's look back from here so this is in reverse order. We just got back from Jeff Houchin's place with another top young horse. The horse herd keeps getting better and better. It sure is fun to have so many good animals to choose from when we go out in the dark to saddle up at camp.

We recently received a report of the seasons for the next five years in Colorado. The first three are about the same as they have been, but the fourth is moved even later. That coupled with the floating start time (you know the second Saturday after the first Thursday before the full moon after the last Friday in September, or something like that) makes the fourth hunt start on the 15th of November and ends on the 20th. That's so late that I don't think we will operate that last hunt from our camp in Little Elk Creek. But if anyone wants to do day hunts from the end of the road, or harvest one in the Ranch pasture, we could work that out.

Fourth Camp: Although the fourth season is often times the best, especially when there is snow, that certainly wasn't the case this year. After a run of nearly perfect camps for the first three seasons we were totally blanked in the last one. The last season hunters were fit, active, motivated, but somehow it just didn't work out for them. Up until then we were 17 elk for 18 hunters (with the only empty hunter being named Zink) so we ended up with 17 for 22. Still a pretty good (red) year overall.

As fate would have it, Rick came off his horse and dislocated his shoulder on the last drive on the last day of the last season. Since those hunters didn't have any elk to pack, they took time to help get his shoulder back in, and then Rick packed out the camp that final afternoon. He's quite a mountain man.

Third Camp: Ray Kongsjord, two sons and a couple of friends filled completely. Older son Lloyd made an exceptional shot of 473 yards (using a ¾" oak brush as a rest) on a nice 6 point in the head of "Licks" canyon. After everyone else had filled, Ray was holding out for a bigger bull and we were looking at a couple possibilities in Good Canyon. Unfortunately he asked me if he should shoot when a four point was in the cross hairs. Of course, as any outfitter would, I said yes because one in the air is worth ten in the box. It was a good shot, but he'll have to come again looking for the "big" one.

Second Camp: This season runs a few days after our second hunt is over. So we took son Brian, a couple of his friends, and Bobby who has been cooking some the last two years. Bobby connected big time after sneaking up on a whole herd in Good Canyon. Big E and Brad each connected. Leaving only Brian without anything on Sunday evening. In the earlier part of that second season Jeff, John, and Mark continued their consistent run of good success by filling three in just three days.

First Camp: In a repeat performance those San Diego Charger fans came to Colorado and whooped up on our Colorado Broncos elk. Six for six. In fact they thought it was so easy, they've already booked a return appearance for next year.

So a little staff review. As I mentioned, Rick dislocated his shoulder on the last day. It is the same shoulder he broke in 99. But it seems to be healing OK. Laquita's leg has healed and she is getting around great this year. Grover was here for the third and fourth camps, after getting a little electrical work done on his ticker. Thank goodness for modern medicine. Things at the ranch were pretty good, except we sure missed the lights in Mom's house when we'd come in after each camp. After 88 years of living along the Animas River, 60 of them at the Waterfall Ranch, she moved on up to tend camp for Dad.

Currently there are about 150 elk feeding in the pasture with the horses. Where were they in that fourth season? We're looking forward to more good hunts in 05. Please let us know if this is your year so we can reserve you a spot for a good old fashioned horse camp traditional elk hunt.

First camp Oct 14-19 booked full
Second camp Oct 21-26 four booked, four openings
Third camp Nov 4-9 eight openings

Best Wishes,

Ed and Patti

2003 Osama bin Elk sighted

Osama bin Elk was sighted by several members of the Zink hunting party during the second hunt of 2003. As expected, he was hiding out in the rugged mountains, and moving every night so as not to establish a pattern which would lead to his capture.
Initially Rick got a glimpse of him on the northwest side of Ferrel's ridge, in the spruce. A tactical plan was put into action which not only flushed out Osama (the largest bull we have sighted in 20 years) but also one of his lieutenants (also quite large). However, true to their experienced and cagy response, they were able to elude us although we had them nearly totally surrounded. I guess that's why they call it huntin instead of killin, but it sure was fun

In addition to the sighting of these exceptionally large bulls, we sighted several large buck deer. One of the bucks was also in the exceptionally large range and was chuckling that none of us had a deer license. It was a good year, with four good hunts. Hunter success was quite high in the first two hunts, and low in the second two. So the average worked out to be about 60%, which is a little below our long term average of 80%, but still well above the statewide average.

Both the elk herd and the deer herds continue to increase. To the point that additional cow elk licenses are becoming readily available in an effort to control herd size. Thankfully CWD (chronic wasting disease) still has not spread into this quadrant of the state. Although we are ever vigilant in watching for it, the closest confirmed case in the wild is about 250 miles from our area.

We want to thank all of you that came this year and were so understanding of our need to adjust logistics a little. For you who don't know the issues: Ed had a little heart repair in September, Patti had a little cancer removed and Laquita had a broken leg. Bobby did a great job of filling in on the camp operations and cooking.

We're looking forward to a Viagra season in '04, bigger, better and at least an inch longer on each point. Give us a call, or go to the web site. We're taking bookings now, with the first and third camps nearly full but plenty of room in the others. We will be offering archery and muzzle loading again, after taking a few years off on these hunts.

2002 - Hunting the way it ought to be!!

What a fantastic year of traditional elk hunting. Everyone had a great time, and 18 of 21 hunters bagged a bull. It was certainly reassuring to return to the traditional success rate, after such a challenging hunt last year. In the first season we got one exceptionally large 6 point bull (by a rookie elk hunter in our camp). By the forth season, in November, we were hunting in a foot to 18 inches of snow and were seeing upwards of 200 elk per day. Is this a great sport, or what!!

Our elk herds continue to grow in size, making the prospects for future hunting even better. In an effort to gain control of the exploding elk population, the DOW is expected to be offering cow licenses at reduced prices. Keep in touch, or check out Colorado's web site at www.wildlife.state.co.us. Starting in early January we'll keep the web site updated about space in our camps, so you can check things out there as you're planning your hunting schedule.

We're in about the 3rd or 4th year of extreme drought here in Southwest Colorado, and it is taking it's toll on the country side. Many of the ranchers have been forced to sell off most of their cattle, because of a shortage of irrigation water and thus a shortage of pasture. Luckily, wildlife are more resourceful and are able to adapt to finding scarce forage better than cattle. As if a "once in three hundred years" drought that eliminated this year's crops wasn't enough, during the ensuing forest fires as many as 20% of our neighbors were evacuated from their homes for several weeks. Unfortunately many of them didn't have homes, operating ranches, or outfitting businesses to return to. Unfortunately Rick and Laquita's house was one that burned. Dewey's cattle range also burned and then he broke his foot. We missed him, but I'm sure he'll be back to teach the new horses a few new words, in case they haven't heard them already. Luckily none of the devastation reached either the ranch or our hunting camp, although it was happening all around us. It has been quite a summer here in Durango.

From the whole crew, thanks for your continued interest in traditional elk hunting. Have a good holiday season and appreciate good things when they come your way.

Best wishes,

Ed and Patti

End of 2001 Season
I've been dragging my feet about writing a recap of the 2001 season, because it was the least productive in our 35-year history. Only seven bulls for 23 hunters. That came just one year after our best ever year of 22 bulls for 23 hunters. Go figure. Elk hunting success was low in all of Colorado, not just in our camp. Elk populations continue to climb to record levels; so the poor harvest was related to weather, moon cycles, or what ever really controls hunting success.

I have been going to tell you all that two of the seven bulls were quite large, and that it was really a fun hunt for everyone even though productivity wasn't that great. I know we said "there's a reason they call this hunting instead of killing" at least a thousand times. The good news is that everyone got a full season of hunting. No one had to go home early because they were done.

Since season the winter has been extremely mild, with very little snow. With the low harvest rate in 2001 and the mild winter, we are looking to even higher record numbers of elk to hunt in 2002. The preliminary information is that non-resident bull licenses will be $470.00 next year but non-resident cow licenses will be only $250.00. Further they may be allowing some seasons in our area where you can buy two licenses and hunt both a bull and a cow. More on that later when the information is finalized. You can click on this link for the Colorado Division of Wildlife's Report and this link for the home page.

But the information that has got me moving to write this is the flurry of plane crashes in our hunting area. Well actually they were just over the ridge in Dutch Creek. (see below and click this link for story 1: Story 2: Story 3) Yours truly helped interview the pilot who walked out from the crash, in an effort to determine where he came from and therefore where the crashed plane was located. After the general search was laid out, I took three horses and rode up Dutch Creek.( with three I could switch off every 30 minutes so no one horse would get too tired in the heavy snow that was about 18" deep) I started just after midnight to find the pilot's tracks and back track them to the plane.

The majority of the search came from the top of Dutch Creek on snowmobiles and by helicopter. I was just a back up in case our estimate of the crash location was way off, at least the tracks could be followed back to the plane. After about three hours of riding, I was closing in on the site. Because I was radioing in my progress along the tracks, it allowed the other searchers to be more focused on where they were looking as well. The plane was located when I was about 30 minutes from it, then the helicopter that found it crashed. When I arrived at the plane crash site, there were several rescuers already there, so I took a couple of them up to the helicopter site on my horses. GPS technology is sure great when you're wandering around in the dark. Anyway, after providing shuttle service for a while I was done, and rode home in time for lunch. Certainly an interesting 12 hours.

There were lots of elk tracks on the south slopes in upper Dutch Creek, reaffirming that there are still lots of elk in those hills. That's on top of the 350 to 400 elk that have spent the last two weeks eating with the horses in our pastures. Elk hunting will be great in 2002. There are lots of elk, and I have gained even a little more experience in the hunting area.

Recap of 2000 Season:
Following the most successful elk hunting season in the 35 year history of Waterfall Ranch Outfitters the Hermosa elk herd is demanding a recount. The initial returns show that 22 of the 23 hunters were successful in bagging an animal. The mix included three 6 point bulls, 5 five point bulls, 8 four point bulls, and three cows. The three bulls shown in the photo were taken in the fourth hunt, after about 12 inches of snow further improved the hunting conditions.

The Hermosa Elk herd continues to be healthy and a high producer of huntable bulls. The controlled burns in the Oak brush which were conducted by the Forest Service in the early '90s have greatly improved the growth of feed on the south slopes, which has been effective in holding the elk in our hunting area for a few extra days.

For those of you who have hunted with us in the past, Rick has mostly recovered from his broken shoulder in 1999. So the lead guiding crew of Rick, Dick, and Ed were back at full strength this year.

As existing clients know, we run a small operation that focuses on an enjoyable hunting experience for each hunter. It has been our practice to give existing clients the right of first selection to return each year. As you can see from the home page, the first three camps have already been rebooked by hunting groups we had in 2000. We do have openings in the fourth hunt, which will not utilize the base camp, but will operate as day hunts from the ranch. This allows us to be more flexible to respond to weather and migration patterns that are occurring by mid-November.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to call me (970-259-4621) or email me.

See you soon!

Ed